Baylor becomes first women’s team to visit White House under Trump

April 29, 2019

President Trump is welcoming the 2019 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball National Champions Baylor Lady Bears to the White House Monday afternoon, making that team the first women’s championship sports team to visit the White House solo under Donald Trump.

The Baylor University players clinched their third championship title earlier this month when they defeated Notre Dame 82-81. According to Baylor, the team’s head coach Kim Mulkey and previous teams also visited the White House and met with both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama after winning titles in the past.

In 2017, the South Carolina’s women’s basketball team was invited to the White House, but declined a visit, saying they had to focus on the upcoming season.

The University of Virginia men’s basketball team won’t be attending the White House after their championship win.

“We have received inquiries about a visit to the White House,” UVA coach Tony Bennett said in a statement posted to Twitter. “With several players either pursuing pro opportunities or moving on from UVA, it would be difficult, if not impossible to get everyone back together. We would have to respectfully decline an invitation.”

Mulkey, the Baylor Lady Bears coach, told the Associated Press she doesn’t view the visit to the White House as a political one.

“I’ve been every time for every president,” she told the Associated Press at the WNBA draft earlier this month. “It’s not a political issue for me. It’s an honor to go to the White House. I want everyone to say they went to the White House.”